San Diego State running back Ronnie Hillman said he will be declaring for the NFL Draft and leaving school after his sophomore college season.

He recently received feedback from the NFL that said he could be selected around the third round in April's draft if he left school early.

"Yes I will be declaring this year," he said in a message to UT San Diego.

Hillman was one of two underclassmen who had requested feedback from the NFL on their potential draft stock this year if they left school early.

The other was junior cornerback Leon McFadden, who will return to SDSU for his senior season after being projected as a fifth-round choice or later. McFadden decided not to leave unless he was projected as a first- or second-round pick, according to his father Leon Sr.

In McFadden’s case, he believes he can improve his stock with another year of college. With Hillman, it would not have been as easy to improve his stock from a third-round projection after two monster years at SDSU.

Perhaps no other individual player of the past 15 years has meant more to SDSU’s fortunes. After several years of being one of the nation’s worst rushing teams, the addition of Hillman forced opposing defenses to account for him. And they often failed.

SDSU was 12-2 when he rushed for at least 110 yards and 5-7 when he didn’t. At a team banquet last month, he was named team MVP. He finished fifth nationally in rushing yards per game this year with 131.6.

The good news for SDSU about his departure is that the running backs cupboard still has plenty of canned goods. Adam Muema will be a sophomore this year after rushing for 253 yards in six games last season. Several freshmen from 2011 will compete at the position, including Dwayne Garrett, Chase Price, De’Saan Hardwick and Brandon Wright. Junior backup Walter Kazee also is expected to return from knee surgery for his senior season in 2012.

Beyond that, former USC running back Dillon Baxter wants to transfer to SDSU and hopes to make it official by having his academics cleared by SDSU admissions. If he transfers, he will sit out the 2012 season under NCAA transfer rules. He will have two years of eligibility remaining after that.

Hillman was only a sophomore but was eligible for the draft because he is three years removed from high school, as required. In his first year out of La Habra High, he wasn’t able to gain admission to SDSU because one of his entrance exam scores wasn’t cleared in time. In the meantime, he waited tables at an Applebee’s in Georgia, where his mom lived.